Teacher jailed after officers find heroin, guns in apartment

By Mike Glenn, St. John Barned-Smith |
May 7, 2014
| Updated: May 8, 2014 4:52pm

Montgomery County Precinct 4 deputy constables arrested an Humble ISD first-grade teacher and three men Tuesday, May 6, 2014, on multiple first-degree felony drug charges during a raid on an apartment near an elementary school in Porter.

Photo By Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office

Monica Lizbeth Quintero, 31, of 21899 Valley Ranch in Porter is charged with two counts of first-degree felony Manufacture / Delivery of a Controlled Substance. Her bond was set at $100,000.

Photo By Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office

Andrew Barclay Zick, 31, of 21899 Valley Ranch Crossing, in Porter is charged with an outstanding warrant – 130808413 D359 Set Aside Bond; with first-degree felony Manufacture / Delivery of a Controlled Substance; and Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon.

Photo By Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office

James Robert Zipperer, 30, of 21899 Valley Ranch Crossing in Porter is charged with two counts of first-degree felony Manufacture / Delivery of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $100,000.

Photo By Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office

Mackinley Breeden, 34, of 5922 Bent Tree court in Humble is charged with two counts of first-degree felony Manufacture / Delivery of a Controlled Substance. He remains held without bond.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Deputies say the occupants allowed them to go inside the apartment, where officers found plastic bags allegedly containing methamphetamine and black tar heroin in plain view.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

“Apparently, Ms. Quintero was living a double life and now it has caught up with her,” said Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth Rowdy Hayden.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The firearm was illegal because Zick is a convicted felon, officials say.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

In the crowded living room, deputies found multiple items typically traded for illegal drugs because they can easily be converted to cash, such as small welding machines, air compressors, and many other tools. The frame of a stolen pistol with a loaded magazine was also recovered from the living room.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The frame of a stolen pistol with a loaded magazine was also recovered from the living room.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The investigation stemmed from numerous complains about strange odors from a first-floor apartment at Villas at Valley Ranch, across from an elementary school off southbound U.S. 59 frontage road in Porter.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The frame of a stolen pistol with a loaded magazine was also recovered from the living room.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Deputies found over a dozen small stainless measuring cups containing liquid heroin, multiple syringes and two plastic bags containing methamphetamine.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Investigators say items like these are typically traded for illegal drugs because they can easily be converted to cash.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Confiscated items included small welding machines, air compressors and many other tools.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Deputies found over a dozen small stainless measuring cups allegedly containing liquid heroin, multiple syringes and other equipment.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The search uncovered over 100 grams of heroin; 53 grams of GHB; 15.2 grams of liquid heroin and numerous pills.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Deputies found liquid heroin, multiple syringes and other equipment.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The search uncovered over 100 grams of heroin; 53 grams of GHB; 15.2 grams of liquid heroin and numerous pills.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

The search uncovered over 100 grams of heroin; 53 grams of GHB; 15.2 grams of liquid heroin and numerous pills.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Deputies found over a dozen small stainless measuring cups allegedly containing liquid heroin, multiple syringes and other equipment.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Zick also had a box in the bedroom containing over $10,000 cash and receipts for items purchased and used as precursors for the heroin lab located in the kitchen area, authorities said.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Zipperer, the third roommate, had over $1,000 cash and admitted trading illegal narcotics for valuables, authorities said.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

“We’ve heard heroin was making a comeback in some areas, but until (Tuesday), we weren’t really seeing it in East County,” Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth Rowdy Hayden said.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

Zipperer’s closet, which was locked by a digital deadbolt, allegedly contained a large vial of liquid GHB, pills and six firearms, including a stolen 9 mm.

Photo By Scott Engle / Montgomery County Police Reporter

“It was disturbing to find a lab set up in a family apartment complex adjacent to a neighborhood and in such close proximity to an elementary school,” Hayden said.

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An elementary school teacher and three others have been arrested on drug charges after Montgomery County deputy constables raided a Porter apartment where they found drugs, guns and cash inside.

Monica Quintero, 31, a first-grade teacher at Ridge Creek Elementary in the Humble Independent School District, was arrested on Tuesday after the Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office raided her apartment on Valley Ranch Crossing Drive.

Residents at the apartment complex, a series of three-story stone and wood dwellings on a quiet street just off U.S. 59, had complained of the smell coming from the first-floor unit and said people were often seen entering and leaving the apartment, officials said. Quintero shared the apartment with two roommates, Andrew Zick, 31, and James Zipperer, 30.

"It was disturbing to find a lab set up in a family apartment complex adjacent to a neighborhood and in such close proximity to an elementary school," Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth Rowdy Hayden told the Montgomery County Police Reporter. "What's more disturbing is learning the female suspect is a first-grade teacher. Apparently, Ms. Quintero was living a double life and now it has caught up with her."

Precinct 4 deputies said that when they went to the apartment and were allowed inside, they found a chaotic scene, with plastic bags in plain view filled with substances that appeared to be methamphetamine and black tar heroin.

Quintero gave deputies permission to search the residence, officials said, and they found substances they believe to be heroin, liquid heroin and pills of Oxycontin, Xanax, Adderall and other drugs.

Deputies also found a slew of drug paraphernalia, including syringes, scales and other items apparently being used for a heroin lab in the apartment, officials said.

Deputies also found a pistol, owned illegally by one of the men, officials said, and more than $10,000 cash, as well as a slew of items they believe had been traded for drugs.

Humble school district officials said Quintero had been put on leave "immediately" while the charges against her work their way through the court system.

A lawyer representing her could not be immediately located.

Jamie Mount, a school district spokeswoman, said Quintero had spent the last year teaching a bilingual first-grade class. Quintero had worked at Park Lakes Elementary School and has been with the district since 2007, Mount said.

Debbie Romines, principal of Ridge Creek Elementary, said in a letter sent home to parents that the charges Quintero faced were related to "off-campus activities in her personal life."

A substitute teacher would be taking over Quintero's class, she said.

The roommates, as well as Mackinley Breeden, 34, have been charged with manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance — a first-degree felony. Zick also was charged as a felon in possession of a gun. Only Quintero has posted bail.

A phone call to the home of Quintero's family was not answered Thursday afternoon.